Fighting Irish Bring Down the House

Most of the Notre Dame players allowed themselves to be devoured by the rush of students from the western stands at Purcell Pavilion, even though the Irish victory nearly was certain by halftime and the Kentucky squad they were playing had already fallen once. And it’s not like these kids haven’t had any athletic success to celebrate this autumn.

Scott Martin has been with the Irish for five years. As his teammates still were surrounded, he evaded the swarm and walked casually along the baseline toward the ND locker room. He knew: This is what was supposed to happen.

“If you look at the way we play in this building, the support we have, we came in expecting to win this game. We didn’t feel we were underdogs,” Martin told Sporting News. “Granted, they’re a very good team, and we don’t want to play them later in the year. We’re glad we got them now. But we believe in ourselves and especially how we play in this building.